Knoen Blog

The Sideburn blog has been running since 2008 and is well over 4000 posts old. There were some good moto blogs before we started, but not tons. Then there were thousands, but recently the gadflies have flown over to facebook or instagram. We, through loyalty to and love of the blog format, have stuck with blogger, serving up at least one post every single day. So, we still love blogs and this one is a beauty, though it is very rarely updated. 

http://knoen.blogspot.co.uk - subtitled Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Time Wasted - is created by Martin P, a Swedish Sideburn reader living and working in Japan. He's employed as a designer for a major motorcycle company. He serves up event reports from classic and modern road racing and vintage scrambles. Go check it out.

And leave us a comment telling us, or reminding us, about really good blogs, please. G 

And I'm pretty sure Luigi is Martin P, the man behind the blog. Could it get any better?

Martin also designed this Bikenstein for Dirt Quake II. 

20th Yokohama Show

This is a road legal old-fashioned Auto Race Triumph. It was built Tom at ForkCo - Sideburn's Japanese distributor. ForkCo make lovelyengine dress-up parts for Harleys, Triumphs and Yamaha XS models. They're available direct or through Lowbrow in the US of A.
I know, I know, but these are inspirational bikes.
They're from Hummingburger via Bubble Visor. G

Martin's Autorace report

My new favourite blog is Time you enjoy wasting is not time wasted. Martin is a Swedish guy in Japan, looking like he's having the time of his life. Sideburn 2 introduced him up to Autorace so he went to check it out. He writes a nice little report on it. Then there are photos of him and his mates riding R1s around Japan and meeting classic bike fans and crazy scoots.
If you like the look of Autorace, click the label below or buy Sideburn 2 - while stocks last. Or both. GI

Spalding Rocks

Spalding Lincolnshire - Gary's home town, is a fairly average British fen town. There are some pretty houses along the river, it has a rich canal history, a weird long thin Chinese where they used to make rope in the oldendays (and now they make noodles), and you can get a great curry at the Indus restaurant.
On 29th May 1967 a certain Jimi Hendrix came to town, and for £1 you could see him, Cream, Pink Floyd and bunch of other 'new kids' get handy with their wah-wahs. But it wasn't until I was in Paris with Gary recently, while visiting the FAT club's secret lock-up, that I realized how much he loved his humble home town. He found a netball in the garden with the name emblazoned across it, picked it up and kissed it. BP
Even these Japanese Auto Racers are rocking Spalding.Spalding is also home of Sun-Pat

Vote Carlito

Okay Sideburn brothers. Please take a few minutes to do a good deed. Italian photographer Carlito Shiliro sent us some great shots of Auto Race - the crazy Japanese speedway that featured in SB2 - that are going to go in a future Sideburn. He's a good fella, and wants Sideburn to succeed. So when he told us he's in a Vice/Adidas photography/art/design competition, and it's a big deal to him, I felt I wanted to help. I signed up, it's in Italian, but it's easy, and cast a vote. He's currently in fourth place (out of 15, so he's no mug). The power of Sideburn should push him over the top. Come on! As Carlito said 'It takes a minute to register, I know your time is precious but I really hope you'll take the time to vote. No need to tell you how important it is for me. Your help can truly make the difference!'

It'll make Carlito's year. Obviously it won't help the others, but they're not sending photos into Sideburn. We've got to stick together. Vote Carlito!

84 reasons to buy Sideburn 2

Kenny Roberts, Champion TZ750, the 1975 Indy Mile, SR Labo, Roberts BMX, Ben Miller, Jason's XR1000, Sundance carbs and Supertrapp exhausts, Fly TIpping, Douglas speedway bikes, Dan Mahoney, Amy Pruczinksi, Bultaco Astro, Houston Astrodome, Bubba Rush, John Hateley, Jay Springsteen, Ray Ninness, Lincoln indoors, Peter Boast, Mat Oxley, Wrench Monkees SR500, 1970s Speedway hair, Flakes SR500 from Japan, cross-continental Sportster odyssey, vicious sunburn, exhaust bodges, Mick Phillips, armadillo gloves, Auto Race, purple glitter jackets, Suzuki AR600 grasshopper bikes, Max Schaaf's chopper, Captain Highside's Skooter Farm KTM Transalp mutant, Ben Part, Rachel, Trophy queens, Gary Inman, Gary Nixon, Nixon's 650 Triumph...
Buy it here.

Vintage Japanese

Dave Skooter Farm used to think the blog was a waste of time because it wasn't on MySpace. Well, it might be (a waste if time, that is), but he told me today we don't update it enough 'You what?' I said. It needs a post everyday. 'We do it everyday.' Oh, well twice a day then. So here's some vintage Oto Resu shots Ben found. They're brilliant.
But we were trying to back off the blog to get on with issue 3. If you don't get your issue 3 for another six months don't blame us, blame Dave Skooter Farm.

Antique AutoRacer

As featured in SB#2, Japanese Auto Racing is now dominated by the Suzuki AR600 powered Grasshopper bikes, but in the oldendays, British iron ruled the roost. Fueled on a secret blend of Methanol & Darjeeling. & No it hasn't been under a bus, the bars are meant to be wonky, so when you've got the bike chucked sideways your hands are level.
BP

Oto Resu!

Never heard of the crazy Japanese discipline of auto race, held on tarmac ovals?
Here's a taster. More in Sideburn 2 on sale now.

Grasshopper

Japanese auto race bike inspired road bike. Thing.
From www.wilsonbrothers.co.uk/

We're working hard

SB#2 is in the pipeline, taking the art of Turn Left racing to the next level.


Photo courtesy of the Magi Rangers